The Nights Are Filled With Silence
by the ticking clock
Summary: Skye and May find Simmons in the lab at 2am. Spoilers for "Shadows"


**Hey guys. So. I've been a member of this fandom since the first episode aired, but I haven't been able to write fanfic for some reason. Here's my first attempt...**

Skye wakes up suddenly.

"Skye," the voice is cool, remote, familiar.

It takes Skye a few seconds to readjust. She blinks the sleep for her eyes and squints into the darkness. May stands at the foot of her bed, arms crossed, foot tapping in a steady rhythm against the floor, _tap, tap, taptap. _

Sighing, Skye flips on the lamp and lowers the knife she hadn't realized she's grabbed, storing it underneath her pillow. "It's two in the morning, May," she says. "Has something-"

"Simmons needs us," is all May says, before she turns on her heel and leaves the room.

Skye presses her hands against her eyes until she sees flashes of something that look a little bit like stars, then grabs a sweatshirt and follows.

* * *

><p>Simmons is in the lab.<p>

Skye is beginning to wonder if she ever leaves the place. May gestures to the corner. Simmons is sitting with her knees tucked against her chest. Skye can see her shoulders shaking with sobs.

Skye looks at May, wondering what exactly the other agent wants her to do, but May is already moving. Without as much as a glance at Skye, she crosses the room in three quick strides, crouching down so she is level with Simmons.

"Jemma?"

Skye has rarely heard May gentle, except maybe with Coulson, but May is quiet here. Concerned.

Simmons raises her head. "I'm so sorry, Agent May, did I-"

"Why are you apologizing?" Skye cuts in, dropping down to one knee on Simmon's other side. "You have nothing to apologize for."

"I just, I-" She looks back and forth between them for a moment, takes a deep breath, presses her lips together as if this will somehow stop her tears. Skye wants to hug her and hold her and tell her everything will be fine, but it won't and it isn't, and it will never be fine again. Fine was when Ward was still on the team, overprotective and making everyone laugh. Fine was when Fitz and Simmons were fitzsimmons, in perfect sync. Fine was when Coulson could joke and had the time to talk to them about things that weren't Hydra and missions and oh, we just got news that another agent died. Fine was a very long time ago.

"I, I think I hate him," Simmons finally whispers, and it is jagged and raw and broken. She swallows hard and looks down at her hands, blinking furiously. "I hate that he doesn't remember what's going on. I hate that he looks at me and he doesn't know me. I hate that he trips over his words. I hate that he's so dependent on everything I say. I hate that he slows my work down, I...I think I hate him!" The last words are a wail. She buries her head in her knees and rocks back and forth.

"Hey," Skye says, and slowly, gently, uncurls the tight knot that is Simmons until the scientist is in her arms, "it's okay to feel that way, Simmons. It's okay. I think it's natural."

"Natural?" Simmons sobs into Skye's shoulder. Her grip tightens until Skye can feel Simmon's nails biting into her back. "How is that natural? I loved him. I loved him and now..."

"Jemma," May says, softly, "Look at me."

Slowly, Jemma untangles herself from Skye's arms and looks up. May reaches out and grips her arm. "I don't know what happened down there, with Fitz," May says, her eyes are steady and dark and never leave Simmon's face. Skye watches and wonders if that is what it is like to be hypnotized. "But I know that you saved his life. The Fitz you loved is still there, Jemma. He's just buried under this new one. We have to dig him out again."

"We?"

"Yeah," May smiles, and rubs Simmon's shoulder, methodically, gently, over and over, "we're a team, remember?"

Skye feels her own eyes burn. "Yeah," she says, "we're Agents of Shield, remember? We don't give up. Ever. We're not going to give up on Fitz, and we are sure as hell not gonna give up on you."

Simmons nods. "Alright. Yes. Okay."

And then she is crying again.

"Shhh, shhh," Skye says, pulling her friend into her arms again. "Hey, do you remember that time when Ward wanted to train us in self defense and you and Fitz ended up reenacting fight scenes from _The Lord of the Rings, _instead?" A few weeks ago, she wouldn't have been able to even think Ward's name. Now, it it tastes only slightly bitter on her tongue.

Simmons laughs a little. "Of course I do. Fitz was Aragorn."

Skye smiles, and nods, resting her chin on top of Jemma's head. "Yeah. We might still have that one on the security tapes."

"Do you remember," May says, joining their little game, "When Coulson..."

They play it for hours, until Skye starts to hear some activity as the others wake up, Trip complaining about coffee, Fitz's shuffling footsteps as he goes to brush his teeth, the blare of Coulson's telephone...they whisper memories until Simmon's stops crying and Skye starts, until May laughs out loud, until they are curled up together in the corner of the lab, a mess of tangled limbs, wild hair and sides aching with laughter. Until May wraps both of them up into her arms and tells them that everything is going to be okay (even if they all know it really isn't), and they play until Fitz and Trip stumble into the lab and find them.

Fitz blinks, and looks at them with his head cocked, in that slow way of his. "What's going on here?"

Skye looks at May, who is already standing, her face the familiar mask of calm composure. Simmons is scrubbing at her face and combing back her hair almost frantically. "Nothing, Fitz."

Trip is looking at Skye, a question in his eyes. He smiles and extends a hand. She takes it, and he pulls her to her feet and presses a hot cup of coffee into her hand. "Coulson wants us upstairs to debrief in five."

She takes a sip of the coffee. It burns her tongue. "Thanks."

"Long night?" he asks.

She shrugs. "Something like that."

He slings an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, guys," he says, "let's go see what the man wants."

Skye looks back at Simmons and Fitz. Simmons has her arm around his waist and they are talking in low voices, there heads bent close together. They look almost like fitzsimmons again, for a moment.

May is already ahead of them, opening the lab door. She gives Skye a nod as they leave, which Skye has learned is May's equivalent of a thank you. Skye blinks back a _you're welcome. _

Coulson is waiting for them. He has stress lines around the corner's of his mouth and his eyes are hooded. He offers Skye a smile, though, which is better than nothing. "Everything good?" he asks.

She nods. "It will be."

Across the room from her, Simmons smiles.


End file.
